Life is only the beginning
by smelabel
Summary: An adventure for lyra and Will beyond death...
1. Death

I do not claim any of the characters, I do not own them, or anything from the His Dark Materials trilogy, etc etc... You've probably heard it before.  
  
The departing  
  
Lyra woke with a start. She still had these dreams, even 70 years after it had happened. Will, a shadowed face in the distance, drifting steadily closer, but fading almost immediately. Pantalaimon lay there staring into space, for he felt for Kirjarva the same way Lyra did for Will. Though they were both fully awake, neither moved for several minutes. "Lyra..." whispered Pan. "Pan..." mumbled Lyra. They knew it was happening, and it was nothing like they had ever experienced before. It was no pain, like going into the world of the dead, but no happiness, like when she and Will had been together... They had been fairly successful in their life, (her and pan). Lyra had become one of the world's greatest and wisest alethiometerists. She was not rich, nor famous, but was relatively happy although she had not loved since that moment when she had left Will forever. It still brought tears to her eyes, and her heart felt eternally bruised. Well, it would not be bruised for much longer. At least, she wouldn't feel it... Pantalaimon pressed close to her wrinkled hand. He did not want to leave her, but it had to happen. It happened to everyone. Lyra's heart was thumping painfully for Pan, wishing it to never happen. They were elderly, it was inevitable. They were dying.  
  
At the same moment in a parallel universe, Will lay restless in his bed. Kirjarva crept up to him and he stroked his fur as best he could. At 83 years old, he suffered painfully from arthritis. When younger, after Lyra, he'd had several girlfriends but couldn't help comparing them to Lyra and was never in love. An old bachelor now, he had indeed taken up his father's mantle. He had been an explorer, mapping out areas of desert and the Antarctic. But part of him he knew was always in another world, his other half, and the only comfort was that she was forever thinking about him as he was about her. He was not complete. "Something is wrong" said kirjarva quietly. "I know, but what can we do?" Replied Will. "Lyra..." Kirjarva started and then stopped abruptly. It always upset Will to talk about her. Even in private, to his daemon. She gave a soft mew as their hearts tugged. It was like when Kirjarva used to change, remembered Will suddenly, and she looked into his eyes as the thought entered their mind.  
  
Suddenly, Will let out a cry. Suddenly, in a parallel universe, Pan disappeared. Forever. Lyra was dead. Will lost the will to live. He sank at once into unconsciousness as inky black as his daemons fur.  
  
They had died within seconds of each other.  
  
But now, looking down at the scene from above, were a pair of angels. Xaphina and her friend were speaking in low voices. "It is not the end" something said. It might have been one, or both of them. It was impossible to tell, as with all angels. "These people have undergone the ultimate sacrifice. They have saved the worlds, and sacrificed each other. There is a bond there, which takes them even beyond death. These brave lovers have been apart for so long. Now I will make sure they are together. The ultimate test has been getting on with their lives. Now I will make sure they are rewarded".  
  
And the angels flew up into the sky.  
  
Chapter 2 coming soon! Please review this, as it is my first fan fiction! It is probably rubbish as I am only 14, but... please review anyway! 


	2. After Death

UPDATE: 18.4.04. The entire story will have 4 or 5 chapters. However, this one is very short. I haven't got a lot of spare time at the moment, with exams and stuff, but I will try and do at least a chapter a week so keep coming back. Thanks!  
  
Oh yea... and my chapter names are pretty dull but it's the story that counts isn't it?  
  
After death  
  
Lyra was drifting towards the world of the dead. It was if she was following some kind of new instinct, but at the same time it was all too familiar. It had been a massive shock seeing her body left behind, but she had to move on. As a wizened elderly woman, she was not sad but merely surprised at what had happened. She knew that her atoms wanted to join Pantalaimon, she was craving it. It was like when Dust was rushing into the abyss, it had a purpose.  
  
Will tried to cling to his home, but it was like trying to hold a bar of soap with cooking oil on your hands. There was nothing physical stopping him, yet it was like a craving. "A craving to move on towards the world of the dead", he thought. He and Lyra were more similar than they realised. At least there was the comfort of that harpy, Gracious Wings, welcoming them back. He wondered if Lyra was still alive, or if she was there, on the plain, waiting for him...  
  
The atmosphere around them was changing. The colours were drifting out of their worlds as it had done those many years before. The re-living of their experience moved both Will and Lyra almost to tears, but as they had no body they could not cry.  
  
And hours passed. Will missed Kirjarva, as Lyra did Pantalaimon.  
  
The daemons themselves had floated away, loosening out and spreading themselves everywhere. Pantalaimon and Kirjava's atoms lives everywhere now, they were part of the rivers, plants, birds and even humans all over the worlds. They had combined together in every grain of sand, every drop of dew.  
  
And Lyra and Will were walking steadily closer to their final reunion. 


End file.
